Authors

Publication Date

2017

Abstract

This case study explored professional development centered on explicit teaching strategies with in-service first-grade teachers as they engaged beginning readers to consider stronger self-awareness of their thinking processes as they read. In this paper, we report on how teacher beliefs shifted regarding the impact of explicit versus implicit instructional practices that increased their students’ metacognitive awareness and regulation. Teachers adopted specific instructional strategies over the course of the professional development that positively impacted their students’ achievement, including one teacher’s use of peer coaching. As teachers observed their students doing more than they thought they were capable of, their beliefs about beginning readers’ capabilities to selfmonitor their oral reading and explain their thinking processes increased, thus positively impacting the value they placed on the role of explicit metacognitive instruction in early literacy instruction. Our study demonstrated effective components of professional development include integrating reflective and collective reflection within a teacher-driven inquiry model.